Friday, March 28, 2008

Chicken Brassica

Way back in the day my Mom had a personal chef (me)! What a lucky lady. I started honing my cooking skills when I was about 11 years old. My Mom was a great sport. The only rule was a had to clean up what I cooked. It was a good deal for me. So I started trying different recipes. Soon I was good enough to really give my Mom some real help in the kitchen. By the age of 13 I could fully prepare the meals by myself. It was pretty clear that I had a talent and it just kept growing. When I was 17 my parents made me a proposition. If I quit my job at a local grocery store they would pay me to cook 4 nights a week. Of course I said yes. I actually kept cookingfor my parents until about 2 months before I got married and got a different job. I really did enjoy cooking for all 11-12 of us. Any way this was a long explanation for this post. I used to make this dish a lot. I had not had it in a very long time and it popped in my head and I had to make it. It is a Cajun inspired dish. The recipe is from Paul Prudomme. You should try and serve it with rice. It is also pretty healthy it is chocked full of greens.

Chicken Brassica:
Serves 4
Seasoning Mix:
1T Paprika
1T dried Basil
2t salt
2t Onion powder
2t dried Oregano
1t Garlic powder
1t dry Mustard
1t White Pepper
3/4t dried Thyme
1/2t Black Pepper
1/2t ground Coriander
______
2-3lbs of Chicken cut into pieces
4c chopped Onions
2c chopped Green or Red Bell Peppers
3c fresh Collard Greens chopped (you can use kale or spinach as well, i always mix in spinach)
3 Bay Leaves
2 1/2c Chicken Stock
1/4c Flour
2 (14 1/2 oz) cans of diced Tomatoes
Sprinkle chicken evenly with 5t of the seasoning mix and rub it in well. Heat a large pot until it is quite hot and brown the chicken on all sides. Remove from the pot and set aside.
Add 2c of the onions, 1c peppers, 1c of the greens, bay leaves, and the remaining seasoning mix. Cook scrapping the bottom of the pot frequently, cook until the veggies seem in danger of burning. Then add 1/2c chicken stock. Cook until the liquid is almost absorbed. Blend in flour and cook until it starts to brown. Add the rest of the chicken stock and the remaining veggies. Simmer for 20min, or until the onions and peppers are soft.
I know the recipe calls for no oil. I sometimes add some when I am cooking the chicken because it can tend to stick. But none is needed when cooking to veggies.
This recipe is pretty easy and super yummy. Enjoy. If you try it let me know what you think.

4 comments:

JLR said...

Sweet! I am so glad you are posting your recipies! I am deffinatly going to try this one.

Jamie

Brynne, Aaron and Cade said...

sounds yummy but I don't have half of those spices in my pantry! boy, you ARE creative and I'm sure it's delicious!

Ashley said...

Lol...I don't have most of them either. I stole them from my parents house.

Staigerfamily said...

Wow. . .that looks fantastic! Can't wait to try it! Thanks for sharing!